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Mon 29 Apr, 2013 10:54 pm
One to three inches of rain has or have fallen.
Which word in bold should I use?
Thanks.
@tanguatlay,
I favor has to go with the singular word rain.
@roger,
Um, roger.. when would you ever say .. one to two inches of rains anything?
@Ceili,
Ceili wrote:
Either choice will work.
I agree. If I had to choose I'd go with "have" but no one is going to care much outside of a classroom.
@tanguatlay,
I would go with "have." I understand the noun in the sentence is "inches." "Of rain" is a prepositional phrase functioning as an adjective that modifies "inches."
Common UK and US usage is "N inches (or centimetres) of rain have fallen".
@contrex,
I concede. "Majority rules" doesn't mean majority is right, but when it comes to common usage, the majority is right by definition..
When the BBC news reports rainy weather, floods etc, they treat inches of rain as plural and say that they 'have' fallen, e.g. in a period of time or since a certain day. So do the newspapers and even the Meteorological Office. I see many US print and broadcast media do this too.
I'd say one to three inches of rain fell and forget worrying about the question.
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